The best 1964 Ford Fairlane? 1964 Fairlanes will always be one of my favorites. At one time, Pops owned a Blue one, Mom's was white and mine was my high school driver called, "The Highway Bitch". Red, white and blue, we loved our 64's. Pops still has his and is done up Pro-street with a small block Ford and big-fatties in the back.  The C6 went south so it's been sitting for a while, but here's a pic so you know what a "regular" 1964 Fairlane looks like. Here's another "regular" 1964 Fairlane at Bonneville Speed Week   The not-so-casual viewer will notice this is a 2 door post model just like the factory race cars Ford built known as the "Thunderbolt".  I've seen Pops work his butt off on this car and we've had alot of fun times in it.   Not to be outdone by the factory Thunderbolts, allow me to introduce, "Afterburner" If you've seen any of the Ring Brothers' builds, you know they set the standard and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Goodguys named Ring Brother's cars "Street Machine of the Year"...

Bonneville Salt Flats World Finals Pictures I took a couple hundred pics at World Finals at the Bonneville Salt Flats a few weeks back.  I thought I should start sharing some of my favorites. This 1955 Chevy Bel Air Post built by Hot Rods by Dean was absolutely gorgeous.  I don't know squat about the car.  It runs in the B/CGC (B engine size is 373 cu in to 439 cu in, and is a competition gas coupe) class.  I dig the yellow interior too.  It gives the cockpit some pop. The first thing that grabbed me is that two-tone paint.  Cream and grey is not the usual color combo for a hot rod, but it works perfectly.   The paint is a smooth, matte or flat finish, it goes nice with those moondiscs. The car is run by Sidney Allen and ran a 172 MPH in the first Mile.  Then on Friday it actually spun, according to the Results page on SCTA-BNI.org. Check out this cool reflection in the crazy chrome bumper.  The bumper was the second part of this Chevy that caught my attention.  This car oozes CLEAN.  Hot Rods...

All right then, I'm a wagon freak. You could even say I'm a Ford Falcon wagon freak. I've written before about the problems I have (Extra W Chromosome) and the 63 Falcon wagon project I'm re-doing. I've learned to live with those issues and I'm doing my best in the hot rod society. But then I saw this totally clean 1965 Falcon wagon owned by Norm Huie of San Clemente, CA at the Cruisin for a Cure Show. More precisely, it's a '65 Ford Falcon 2 door wagon in the original Prairie Bronze paint. It'd get boring if I kept saying original since Norm's taken great pains to restore his wagon back to 99% stock himself. Norm's always been into Falcons but chose this odd-ball 65 because it was the last year of this model.  I say odd because it's a 2 door, no-doubt more desirable than the mor-door cousin I own. Then, it's got the factory V8 another plus, but from there, this car is plain-jane! It's a non-Deluxe, non-anything car but it does have power steering and power brakes and a rare cargo light inside near the...

It's easy to like iconic muscle cars like a Mustang, especially when it's a true Shelby. Add to that it's an original Hertz Shelby and I'm a little more curious. Without much effort, I can see a young man strolling up the Hertz counter (long before internet reservations!) and asking for a 1966 Mustang GT 350H.  "Yes, I would like the optional insurance." If you've seen a perfectly restored 350H or any Shelby Mustang, they're obviously valuable and visually, they're cool. You're likely to see one a concours show or more likely at auction. But for me, (and I hope most of you) I look twice when it's driven! I wanna hear it run! Beyond that, there's the rarest of rare: The unrestored racing Shelby. The first unrestored race Shelby I saw was out of pure luck. I was invited to an anniversary celebration for Bob Bondurant at the Bondurant Racing School of High Performance Driving. A treat in itself no doubt.  We drove the Mustangs he had back then (the 'stangs were later replaced by Corvettes) then he gave an interesting talk. After, we all went outside to...

Many of you hot rodders and car nuts are able to stick with one car for years.  I don't know how you do it?  I have what what is called "The Car of the Week" syndrome.  Sometimes its as simple as seeing a cool car on the road.  Then I get on the laptop and start google searching.  I look at the classified ads for used examples, forums to see what people are doing to them, and pictures to find inspirational examples.  I thought I'd ramble a bit about a few of those cars to give you an idea of how all over the hot rod map I am.  There is a goal to this madness, and that is trying to decide on what my next car will be. This week's "car of the week" is the first gen' Scion xB.  That's right.  Did I not mention that my car passion has no boundaries?  Did you read my Pro-Touring meets Hellaflush story?  Just a glimpse into my funky car taste.  So, Scion xB...check out this woody xB.  I'd build a Box a few ways, old school hot rod is definitely one. ...

Steve McDonough's  ''67 Camaro Pics by Chuck Vranas Words by Keith Harman Steve McDonough, an electrician from Pembroke, Massachusetts, had the right idea when he contacted his local hot rod shop, Competition Specialties (www.competition-specialties.com) in Walpole, near Boston, about carrying out some work on his Chevy Camaro. Originally, Steve approached C.S. owner Peter Newell, about simply laying some flames on the car once a friend had painted it, but that plan was soon to change however, once he saw just what Competition Specialties were all about. Peter formed the company over ten years ago and since then through quality construction, fabrication and paintwork, it is now regarded as one of the top specialist car builders in the North Eastern USA, with many show winning cars to its name. After a few ideas were discussed between Steve and Peter, it was decided to turn the old Camaro into a total show stopper, nothing was to be too good for this car, and all the stops were definitely going to be pulled out! It's difficult to know where to start when describing this car as so much has gone into it,...

She started out as a yellow, fairly stock, 1962 International Scout 80 2WD.  She was powered by the original slant 4-cylinder, producing a shattering 83 horsepower while sitting on the original frame and suspension which included leaf springs all around.  Seating was less than luxurious, sporting the stock bench seat with broken springs. By the time “Unbound” hit the streets, not a square inch was left untouched by the builder, Marty Schreiber of n2 Hot Rods (n2HotRods.com), and designer/owner, Chris Adams (SYTCN@cox.net). The stock chassis and suspension were replaced with a custom full Art Morrison chassis with independent front suspension and a 4-bar rear end with panhard bar.  The ride was smoothed out with adjustable coil-over springs on all four corners, and stopping power was updated with a host of Wilwood components including dual master cylinders, 13” 6-piston discs in the front and 12” 4-piston discs in the rear. The new power plant was put together by Turn Key Engine Supply and came in the form of a LS6 Corvette engine producing just over 400 ft. lbs. of torque.  The LS6 got mated up to a 4L60E transmission, controlled...

So, I was "stumbling" around on StumbleUpon, a cool search tool/website where you can tell it what you're interested in and just hit the stumble button. I stumbled upon "Rare American Made Autos" page. Here's a quick quote from the website that explains what the Red Scarf Club is. Of all places to find cool pictures of rare American cars, an artilleryman's website!? Car Nuts are everywhere! "The RED SCARF name comes from the color of the artilleryman's parade neck scarves. (ie; The infantry color is blue, the engineers - green, the artillery - red, and so on. Each section of the army, has its own designated color.) Our present day club was loosley formed by a small group of 553rd FA Bn veterans, their wives, friends and familys, to get together once or twice a year in Branson, Missouri for a "Dinner and a Show", and share old "War Stories" - as we call them - and each others company, for a couple of days." Here's some teaser pics...if you can name any one of these cars, well...you're just sick! ha ha Try out StumbleUpon and tells us...

1966 Mustang Fastback - Pro-Touring Budget "I bought a 1966 Mustang Fastback out of a junk yard for $400. Thought I would challenge myself to build as exotic a g-machine as possible for $5000. "   It sounds impossible, anti-Pro-Touring even. MyRideisMe.com asked Ron Schwarz, owner/builder of this Grabber Blue beauty, to share his 5 Tips with our readers. He tells it like no one else can. This guy is hilarious! There are some killer classic quotes here. Stick to these 5 Tips below and you too can build your own budget dream ride.   1. Choose The Right Car Your car has to be affordable, but still turn you on. If it doesn’t keep your interest it will be just another project that doesn’t get finished. Choose a car you can get cheap parts for, period.   2. Do your homework The mods on this Mustang were done with factory (Ford and GM) parts from performance models/sports cars. The front suspension is all C5 Corvette parts; great handling, big brakes, relatively cheap, and fairly easy to come by.   3. Choose The Right Drivetrain. Find a drivetrain that...

Being passionate about modified rides, I spend a lot of time on websites that span the spectrum of hotrodding to "tuning" and everything in between. Two favorite build styles of mine are Pro-Touring and the Street Drift style called HellaFlush. HellaWho? I'll explain in a minute. Call it DetroitFlush or Ill-Touring (Ill, as in Siiiick wheel fitment dude!). We can nail down the name later. Let's dig into this concept a little and see what you, the reader, has to say. First, lets define the two components of DetroitFlush individually. Pro-Touring. The Pro-Touring.com's definition as a reminder, is old muscle with new sports car performance. Modern suspensions, brakes, big wheels/tires and late model drivetrains (like a 6.1L Hemi Crate motor, 6 speed Tremec and 20" wheels with 315/30/20 Pirelli's like the TerraCuda built by Chip Foose) HellaFlush on the other hand is the concept, "Offset Is Everything" and traces its roots to Japanese Street Drifting which pushes the limit of fenders on import cars such as WRX's, EVO's, 240SX's and RX-7's. As seen in the picture above from the HellaFlush website, the wheels fit flush to the fender. Simple...

Come join us for the 2009 Peach State Muscle Car Challenge. It begins tomorrow and there is still time to register. For more info and to register visit Pro-Touring Peach State Muscle Car Challenge.     Basic info: May15 Dinner - $5 per person Friday will consist of Meeting up at David's toy box in Canton GA, Hang out with our cars and get to know each other over some music and food. May 16 Drag Racing - $15 per car Saturday we will meet up around 8:00am then head over to Calhoun http://www.paradisedragstrip.net/ and run our cars until around 3:00pm. Then we will all cruise the back roads of Ga. to Canton for the Cruz night. There have been as little as 400 cars and as many as 700 cars at this Cruz night. Have some dinner at one of many different restaurants. Then back to the David's toy box to hang out some more. May 17 Autocross - $25 per car Sunday will meet up at the host hotel around 8:00am then cruise up 41hwy to the parking lot for the auto cross at http://http://www.redtopautoauction.com/ Wallace Sanford...

Pro-Touring Hot Rod Comet   Pro-Touring? Does this sound like grandma cruisin' Route 66 in a Mercury Marquis? Try Again! For those hiding out in your garage working on your own hot rod in the last 5 years, Pro-Touring cars are classic muscle cars modified to be driven hard with modern hot rodding technology.   Call it Pro-Touring or G-Machine, everything on these tricked out rides is upgraded and modern: Late model or aftermarket suspension, big horsepower engine, and body mods to fit those giant wheels with low profile tires and big brakes. New school muscle with old school style. Buckle up.   OK, let's have a look-see at Josh Martin's 1965 Pro-Touring Mercury Comet Caliente then shall we? A few magazines are planning to feature this track day-ready Comet, but the details are not set. In the meantime, MyRideisMe.com delivers the latest and greatest in hot rodding. We say, why wait? Type in your email address over on the left and you'll receive stories like this right to your inbox.   Filling you in on the Comet build then, meet car owner, Josh Martin.   MyRideisMe: All dream...